Climbing
The Mount Everest base camp-to-summit speed record now belongs to an American.
In just 9 hours and 55 minutes, American climber Tyler Andrews was able to reach Everest’s summit from base camp, setting the record for an oxygen-assisted ascent of the world’s tallest mountain. Tracking updates reported that Andrews began at 7:11 p.m. local time and reached the summit at 5:06 a.m., besting the previous record of 10 hours and 56 minutes set by Lakpa Gelu Sherpa in 2003.
Andrews is no stranger to setting records. The Concord, Massachusetts native has set over 100 fastest known time (FKT) records, including speed records for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, and Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas.
The 36-year-old has been building his fitness for decades. Following his graduation from Tufts University, where he competed in cross country and track and field, Andrews began competing as a professional runner. His first marathon victory came in 2014, winning the Vermont City Marathon, which he would go on to win again in 2017 and 2018. His biggest victory came in 2016 at the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon, where he set his personal best of 2:15:52, then the course record.
It was years later that Andrews found his passion for speed ascents in mountaineering. His first speed ascent record came on the Salkantay Inca Trail in 2019, when he set the unsupported record of 6:13:02. The marathoner had breakout years from 2022 through 2024, during which he set records on Mount Fuji, Aconcagua, Mount Kilimanjaro, and others.
In March 2025, Andrews set his sights on Mount Everest. He initially began attempting ascents without using supplemental oxygen, but severe conditions forced him to turn back on multiple occasions. According to The Concord Bridge, Andrews made a total of five attempts without oxygen, with one attempt including a life-threatening fall into a crevasse.
Following unsuccessful climbs without oxygen, Andrews decided it was time to make a change. Particularly fearsome weather on the mountain this year prompted Andrews to use supplemental oxygen, allowing him to reduce his time on the mountain and thus his exposure to its extreme elements.
“You’re not going to get blown off, [but] the real risk is the wind sucking the heat out of you much, much faster. There’s a real risk of hypothermia, frostbite, all those things,” Tim Andrews told The Concord Bridge. Tim is Tyler Andrews’ father.
Andrews summited Everest and set his record on May 28, 2026, just one day before Mount Everest ended its spring climbing season. While Andrew’s time has not yet been set in stone by Guinness World Records or local authorities, he and his family are sure “this is going to be the right time.”
